Rhonda Self - 56

“Deciding to donate was easy for me because I wanted to help a friend. I became an organ donor in my early 20s, and I had wanted to do it for many years. When my friend needed help, I felt it was the right time.”

“At first, I didn’t say anything about it, but it kept weighing heavy on me. Then I thought, ‘You don’t have to wait until you die to help someone. You could do it now.’ I believe in God, and He gave me peace of mind to donate.”

“The process was emotional because, once I had made up my mind to do it, I had to answer everyone’s questions. My husband asked why I’d want to do this for someone I didn’t know when it was unnecessary. I couldn’t explain it.”

“I didn’t ask for permission; I asked for support.”

“As a dialysis nurse for 13 years, I’ve seen the other side of kidney problems — the shock, the denial, the depression we see in patients. They’re hooked to a machine and trust us to take care of them for four hours a day, then they go home. And maybe they have a couple of good hours.”

“Dialysis is a lifelong process; it’s a way of life. It’s hard to see patients go through that.”

“I kept my decision low-key until a donor was found. Then I started a blog on Facebook to update my family and friends on the process. We had several rounds of testing before I was accepted, and once I was accepted, I was anxious to find a match. I got impatient.”

“I was most afraid of the unknown of the recovery process, but I was back at work full time in three weeks.”

“I met my recipient at the hospital while we were getting lab work done. We didn’t know it; but when went to admissions at the same time, we started figuring it out. We’ve actually become very good friends. She and her husband came and stayed with us some during her recovery process.”

“It was a great experience. The doctors and nurses and transplant team were amazing. They made every aspect comfortable and positive.”

“Being part of the world’s longest transplant chain is amazing. When we all met up at the picnic, it was so amazing to see the chain as a visual. It really put it in perspective to see where we fell on the chain. I felt humbled and blessed.”

“If I could regenerate kidneys, I would donate over and over and over. Someday, though, someone will get my other one.”

“This is the best decision you will ever make. Although my friend and I weren’t a match, he received a kidney, and I gave one on the same day. He has his life back, and I helped another family. I’m at peace, and I fulfilled what I was always meant to do. I feel like I found my purpose.”

Celebrating the nation's longest kidney chain

High-tech medicine and human kindness combine in UAB's ongoing kidney chain, a series of transplant surgeries that have given 101 people so far a new lease on life. The chain is the nation's longest ever.

The kidney chain has been kept going by many remarkable acts of sacrifice, and has revealed many moving stories of determination. Tyler Williamson went to TEDx Birmingham’s 2017 event in March expecting to be inspired and to network and make new connections with fellow attendees. What the 27-year-old did not anticipate was that inspiration would lead him to volunteer to become a living kidney donor just seven months later. See his story in this video:

In their words, stories from our transplant donors and recipients.

Kendra Brooks. After more than four years of dialysis treatments, Kendra Brooks received her transplant in April 2016. Kendra’s mom donated a kidney so her daughter could receive one and wrote a letter to share the news. “It said, ‘God has answered our prayers. We have a match.’ I cried puddles of tears of joy,” Kendra says. Learn more about Kendra.

Sheldon Vaughn. High blood pressure and diabetes ravaged Sheldon Vaughn’s kidneys, and it was the kindness of two donors who helped him achieve a transplant. “A dialysis nurse my wife and I came to know wanted to donate to me, but wasn’t a match for me, and her kidney went to a woman in Florida. But because of her donation, I was able go on the UAB list and received my kidney from a young woman named Nicole who had contacted UAB and wanted to donate her kidney to anybody. So in a sense, I feel like I have two donors.” Learn more about Sheldon.

Laura Burks. With a desire to help others, Laura Burks was looking for her next opportunity when a friend posted on her blog about how she was going to donate a kidney. “I thought, ‘That is what I need to do,’ Laura says. “Before that, I didn’t know you could be a loving donor. I thought it was something that happens after you pass away. After realizing that I could give away an organ that I don’t have to have to live with, I thought, ‘If I don’t do this, my life’s not complete.’ I just knew somebody needed a kidney and they’re depending on some stranger to give up theirs, and I was that stranger. Learn more about Laura.

William Harris. High blood pressure caused William Harris’ kidneys to fail, and he was told he would eventually need a kidney transplant to live. After nine years of dialysis treatments, his wish came true. “When I was told I was a candidate to get a transplant, and that there was a match for me, I didn’t have any fears,” William says. “I was humbled to know that someone wanted to give me a kidney.” Learn more about William.

Divyank Saini is a UAB lab technologist and one of 17 employees who work behind the scenes at UAB Hospital to bring hope to those waiting on heart, lung, kidney, liver and other transplants. Saini made a decision that he wanted to do more than just his important work of interpreting lab samples to find the right matches. He decided to become a living donor and is UAB Kidney Chain donor No. 57.

The human body is primed to identify and destroy invaders like viruses, bacteria and other pathogens that can bring illness or death. Cells of the immune system and the antibodies they make recognize such foreign bodies and act to remove and destroy them. This defense system is a potential problem for kidney transplants. People have different blood groups and different human leukocyte antigens that can provoke an attack if a tissue, such as a kidney, or blood is transferred from one person to another. These two barriers are called blood group incompatibility and tissue (or histo-) incompatibility. A kidney transplant team uses the histocompatibility and blood bank testing laboratories to determine whether the tissues and blood group of a volunteer living kidney donor and the intended recipient match. A match is good, but matches are not always possible.

Since December, 21 living donor kidney transplants that have taken place at UAB are connected as donors “pay it forward” for a recipient to keep the chain going, and more transplants are scheduled for July.

The unexpected 2014 snowstorm that crippled the Southeast did not deter the transplant team at UAB from continuing the largest nondirected donor chain ever performed at a single center in the Southeast.

The kidney chain has brought donors and recipients to UAB from across the eastern United States and as far away as Oregon.